Once a new technology rolls over you, if you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road
Stewart Brand
We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology and yet have cleverly arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. That’s a clear prescription for disaster
Carl Sagan
Systems Thinking
Computational Thinking
Design Thinking
Futures Thinking
Strategic Thinking Solutions Thinking .
Global Warming
Armed Conflicts
Food Scarcity
Clean Water
Ageing Population
Obesity
Overpopulation
Alternative Energy
Education
Health Care
Epidemics
Housing and Shelter
Big Problems
Instead of isolating smaller and smaller parts of the system being studied, systems thinking works by expanding its view to consider larger and larger
numbers of interactions as an issue is being studied
Systems Thinking
Thinking consists of two activities: constructing mental models and then simulating them in order to draw conclusions and make decisions
Barry Richmond
Understanding the concept of a tree requires more information than is available through sensory experience alone. It’s built on past experiences and knowledge.
The image of the world around us, which we carry in our head, is just a model. Nobody in his head imagines all the world… they have only selected concepts, and relationships between them, and uses those to represent the real system
Jay Forrester
The problems we have created in the world today will not be solved by the level of thinking that created them
Albert Einstein
We are limited in our capacity to form and reform mental models. Systems modelling allows us to move from “what” to “what if” and make our thinking visible
The basic building blocks of dynamic models are stocks, flows, and loops
A supermarket can be seen as any of the following kinds of systems, depending on the perspective:
a "profit making system" … from the perspective of management and owners
a "distribution system“… from the perspective of the suppliers
an "employment system“… from the perspective of employees
a "materials supply system“… from the perspective of customers
an "entertainment system“… from the perspective of loiterers
a "social system" …from the perspective of local residents
a "dating system" …from the perspective of single customers
Students need learn to identify the properties of the various subsystems they explore, for example of a bicycle,
and examine how they relate to the whole. Children tend to think of the properties of a system as
belonging to individual parts of it rather than as arising from the interaction of the parts. A system property that
arises from interaction of parts is therefore a difficult idea.
Students should already know that if something consists of many parts, the parts usually influence one another.
Also they should be aware that something may not work as well (or at all) if a part of it is missing, broken, worn out,
mismatched, or misconnected.
Students can learn about the choices and constraints that
go into the design of a bicycle system. Depending
on whether the bicycle is intended for racing,
mountain roads, or touring, influences its design and
such choices as the type of tires, frame and materials,
and drives and gears.
Subsystems could include:
The Wheel Drivers & Gears
Frames & Materials Brakes & Steering
Aerodynamics Power System
Stocks are the foundation of any system and are the elements that you can see, feel, count, or measure Stocks do not have to be physical
Stocks
Stocks change over time through the actions of a flow A stock is the present memory of the changing flows within a system
Flow
A feedback loop is formed when changes in a stock affect the flows into or out of that same stock Balancing feedback loops are stability seeking and try to keep a stock at a certain level or within a certain range Reinforcing feedback loops occur when a system element has the ability to reproduce itself or grow at a constant fraction of itself
Loops
Symbols
A converter holds information or
relationships that affect the rate of the flows, or that
affect the content of another converter
A connector indicates that
changes in one element cause
changes in another element; only
changes a stock by going through an
accompanying flow
A flow represents actions or processes; transports “stuff”,
concrete or abstract, that directly adds to or takes away from accumulation in a stock;
the verbs in the system
A stock represents an accumulation,
concrete or abstract, that increases or
decreases over time; the nouns in
the system